Stay or go: Notre Dame's Eifert nears decision

Some days, Tyler Eifert calls Kyle Rudolph and the excitement over fulfilling a dream in an NFL stadium inundates the conversation. Then, as soon as the next day, Eifert calls Rudolph and says maybe staying put at Notre Dame is really the best thing to do.

"I can't imagine how hard the decision would be," said Rudolph, who departed Notre Dame after his junior year and just finished his rookie season with the Vikings. "Mine was tough, and mine was considered an easy decision."

The situation isn't precisely the same from one Irish underclassman tight end to the next, but the uncertainty for Eifert is unmistakable as the junior tight end's stay-or-go decision process enters its late stages.

The NFL's evaluation didn't clarify matters: Eifert received a third-round grade from the league's draft advisory board, according to sources familiar with the results. It's a conservative and more or less expected outcome, but it was just inconclusive enough to muddle matters a bit.

"It's all about what's important to you," Rudolph said, echoing his advice to Eifert. "If you've always wanted to play in the NFL and you don't care if you're going to be the 15th overall pick or the 65th pick, then you leave school.

"But if it's to be a senior and go play in a BCS game or a national championship, then you go back to school, regardless of what people tell you. There is justification on both ends."

Most draft analysts have Eifert falling in that miasma of second- or third-round projections. He is the fourth-best available tight end, according to ESPN. But two others rated higher -- Clemson's Dwayne Allen and Georgia's Orson Charles -- haven't made their stay-or-go choice, either.

Then there is the matter of how much draft ground Eifert can gain with the third-round grade as a starting point, a Mackey Award-finalist junior year in the bank and a 2012 season in an offense that won't feature the blocking and physicality that most regard as his biggest question marks. But that, too, is unclear.

"Considering Eifert's production this season, it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which he boosted his stock two full rounds next season," said Rob Rang, senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com. "I do think with greater flexibility and toughness in the running game, however, he could earn a second-round grade."

And then there is NFL Draft Countdown's Scott Wright: "Eifert could very easily move into the first round with another good season or two. After all, Eifert doesn't have a ton of experience so another year of development both on and off the field would certainly help his chances."

Money is as much a lesser factor with Eifert as NFL millions can be. Still, as Rudolph had explained to him, the gulf between first-round picks and later-round picks is not as profound under the new collective bargaining agreement.

Rudolph, selected 43rd overall, signed a four-year, $3.91 million deal with a $1.8 million signing bonus. The last pick of the first round (No 32) reportedly earned $5.3 million guaranteed and a $3.3 million signing bonus, with the No. 16 overall pick hauling in $8.7 million guaranteed and a $4.8 million signing bonus.

"With the new CBA, it makes it even less risky to leave because there really isn't that big of a difference," Rudolph said. "It's all about getting to your second deal."

For now, it's all about Eifert arriving at a choice, and that's been difficult enough.

Given his injury history, Rudolph seemed an obvious early exit candidate in 2010. Nevertheless, he said he changed his mind countless times after first contemplating things in October. It's a back-and-forth Eifert apparently endured as well, and he's likely soon to finalize a direction.

"That's what I told (Eifert) from the beginning: Once you gather as much information as possible from people that you trust, you gotta lay it out on the table and decide what's important to you and what you care about," Rudolph said.